VEHICLE BATTERY POWER SAVE TIMER

• US 20130016637A1
• Filed: 07/15/2011
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Yi, Ki Hak, Shamoun, Christopher N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,879,451 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/403 Power supply in the vehicle

Abstract

The described method and system provide for processing telematics service-related calls on a telematics-equipped vehicle when the vehicle ignition is off. By utilizing one or more call timers, the described invention is able to prevent excessive drain to the vehicle battery while still providing broad access to telematics services when the vehicle ignition is off. Certain types of calls may be excepted from the call timers, and different types of calls may use different call timers. A call center may also intervene and modify the process by changing the values of the timers.

Claims

1. A method for processing telematics service calls at a telematics unit on a telematics-equipped vehicle when the vehicle ignition is off, the method comprising:

determining, at the telematics unit that the vehicle ignition has been turned off;

determining whether a call is ongoing when the vehicle ignition is off;

if the telematics unit determines that a call is ongoing;

remaining in an ON mode and continuing to carry out the call;

incrementing a call timer if the ongoing call continues for an increment of time;

determining whether the call tinier has expired; and

terminating the call if the call time is determined to have expired; and

if the telematics unit determines that a call is not ongoing;

transitioning to a discontinuous receive (DRx) mode if the telematics unit determines that a call is not ongoing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein if the telematics unit determines that a call is ongoing, the method further comprises:

determining whether the ongoing call is an excepted call; and

wherein the call timer is not incremented if the ongoing call is determined to be an excepted call.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a call request while the vehicle ignition is turned off and while the telematics unit is in DRx mode;

determining whether the call timer has expired;

if the call timer is not determined to have expired;

transitioning, at the telematics unit, to the ON mode;

carrying out the call request; and

incrementing the call timer for an increment of time;

if the call timer is determined to have expired, terminating the call request.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining whether the call request is for an excepted call; and

wherein, if the call request is for an excepted call, the telematics unit transitions to the ON mode and carries out the call request regardless of whether the call timer has expired and does not increment the call timer.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determination of whether an ongoing call is an excepted call further comprises:

checking whether a call type of the ongoing call is included in a list of excepted call types.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining whether the vehicle ignition is turned on; and

resetting the call timer if the vehicle ignition is determined to be turned on.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the telematics unit, whether a DSMT (Digital Sleep Mode Time-out) timer has expired while the telematics unit is in the DRx mode; and

if the DSMT timer is determined to have expired, transitioning, at the telematics unit, to an OFF mode.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the telematics unit determines that a call is ongoing, determining whether the ongoing call is a first type or a second type; and

wherein a first call timer is used for calls of the first type and a second call timer is used for calls of the second type.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first type is an OMA-DM (Open Mobile Alliance Device Management) call and the second type is a non-OMA-DM call.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the telematics unit, a message from a call center for designating a value for the call timer; and

setting, at the telematics unit, the call timer to the designated value.

11. A tangible, non-transient computer-readable medium, part of a telematics unit on a telematics-equipped vehicle, having thereon computer executable instructions for processing telematics service calls when the vehicle ignition is off, the computer executable instructions comprising:

instructions for determining that the vehicle ignition has been turned off;

instructions for determining whether a call is ongoing when the vehicle ignition is off;

instructions for remaining in an ON mode and continuing to carry out the call if the telematics unit determines that a call is ongoing;

instructions for incrementing a call timer if the ongoing call continues for an increment of time;

instructions for determining whether the call timer has expired; and

instructions for terminating the call if the call time is determined to have expired;

instructions for transitioning to a discontinuous receive (DRx) mode if the telematics unit determines that a call is not ongoing if the telematics unit determines that a call is not ongoing.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for determining whether the ongoing call is an excepted call; and

wherein the call timer is not incremented if the ongoing call is determined to be an excepted call.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for receiving a call request while the vehicle ignition is turned off and while the telematics unit is in DRx mode;

instructions for determining whether the call timer has expired;

instructions for transitioning to the ON mode if the call timer is not determined to have expired;

instructions for carrying out the call request; and

instructions for incrementing the call timer for an increment of time;

instructions for terminating the call request if the call timer is determined to have expired.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for determining whether the call request is for an excepted call;

instructions for transitioning to the ON mode and carrying out the call request regardless of whether the call timer has expired if the call request is for an excepted call; and

wherein the telematics unit and does not increment the call timer if the call request is for an excepted call.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining whether an ongoing call is an excepted call further comprise:

instructions for checking whether a call type of the ongoing call is included in a list of excepted call types.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for determining whether the vehicle ignition is turned on; and

instructions for resetting the call timer if the vehicle ignition is determined to be turned on.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for determining whether a DSMT (Digital Sleep Mode Time-out) timer has expired while the telematics unit is in the DRx mode; and

instructions for transitioning to an OFF mode if the DSMT timer is determined to have expired.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for determining whether the ongoing call is a first type or a second type if the telematics unit determines that a call is ongoing; and

wherein a first call timer is used for calls of the first type and a second call timer is used for calls of the second type.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first type is an OMA-DM (Open Mobile Alliance Device Management) call and the second type is a non-OMA-DM call.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, the computer-executable instructions further comprising:

instructions for receiving a message from a call center for designating a value for the call timer; and

instructions for setting the call timer to the designated value.